Conveyor for forwarding either batches or piles of newspapers

ABSTRACT

A conveyor in which a three-dimensionally closed chain carrying a plurality of uniformly spaced horizontal spindles has mounted thereon rods with platforms for supporting the piles or batches. In places where the rods are mounted on respective spindles, each spindle has fixed thereto a half-coupling held in permanent engagement with another half-coupling freely rotatable about the horizontal spindle and fixed to the rod. The provision of the half-couplings prevents a rocking motion of the platforms, as the chain is being forwarded, because any deviation of a platform from the horizontal position results in the two respective halfcouplings being displaced relative to each other.

United States Patent 11 1 Anikanov et al.

[ Nov. 12, 1974 CONVEYOR FOR FORWARDING EITHER BATCHES OR PILES OF NEWSPAPERS [76] Inventors: Nikolai Ivanovich Anikanov,

Bolshaya Bronnaya ulitsa, 2/6, kv. 6; Leonid Pavlovich Grachev, ulitsa Serafimovicha, 2, kv. I81, both of Moscow; Grigory losifovich Zax, ulitsa Mechnikova, 14a, kv. 24, Kiev; Grigory Avramovich Radutsky, l6 Parkovaya ulitsa, 49, korpus 2, kv. 68, Moscow; Rafail Efimovich Kheifets, Brest-Litovsky prospekt, 162, kv. 30, Kiev, all of USSR.

[22] Filed: Oct. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 408,433

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. l3, l973 U.S.S.R l89975l [52] US. Cl. 198/177 R, 198/158 [51] Int. Cl. B65g 17/20 [58] Field of Search l98/l77 R, I30, 137, I38,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,270,00l l2/l9l5 Boos et a]. l98/l37 2,471,347 5/1949 Rayburn 193/177 R 2,821,287 H1958 Francis 198/137 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS l 338,57() 8/1963 France 198/177 R Primary E.\'amt'nerRichard A. Schacher Assistant E.taminer loseph E. Valenza Attorney, Agent, or FirmHolman & Stern [57] ABSTRACT A conveyor in which a three-dimensionally closed chain carrying a plurality of uniformly spaced horizontal spindles has mounted thereon rods with platforms for supporting the piles or batches. In places where the rods are mounted on respective spindles, each .spindle has fixed thereto a half-coupling held in permanent engagement with another half-coupling freely rotatable about the horizontal spindle and fixed to the rod. The provision of the half-couplings prevents a rocking motion of the platforms, as the chain is being forwarded, because any deviation of a platform from the horizontal position results in the two respective half-couplings being displaced relative to each other.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the art of printing and more particularly to conveyors for forwarding either piles or batches of printed signatures, e.g. newspapers.

The present invention may be employed to utmost advantage for the delivery of piles or batches of printed signatures, such as newspapers, from a web-fed rotary press and for subsequent feeding of these piles or batches for further handling, e.g. packaging.

PRIOR ART Known at the present time are conveyors for forwarding either piles or batches of newspapers, comprising a three-dimensionally closed driven chain carrying a plurality of uniformly spaced horizontal spindles having mounted thereon in a cantilever fashion, respective rods with platforms adapted to support the piles or batches, with the platforms being retained against rocking motion, as said chain is being advanced, by means of a device including a pair of auxiliary chains extending at both sides of the main chain parallel therewith throughout the entire length of the conveyor, the two auxiliary chains being associated with a common drive which is also the drive of the main chain. The pivots of these auxiliary chains are connected by rods with the rodssupporting the platforms, forming therewith a respective plurality of parallelogram linkages.

In these known conveyors, said device of the prior art prevents rocking of the platforms with the piles or batches of newspapers, as said chain is being advanced. However, the presence of the additional rods and parallelogram linkages complicates the structure of the conveyor.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor for forwarding either piles or batches of printed signatures such as newspapers, which is of a simple structure.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a conveyor incorporating means preventing a rocking motion of the platforms, as the latter are being conveyed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor which offers correction of the threedimensional position of the platforms.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a conveyor which ensures a strictly horizontal indexing of the platforms at the areas of their loading and unloading.

These and other objects are attained in a conveyor comprising a three-dimensionally closed driven chain carrying a plurality of uniformly spaced horizontal spindles having mounted thereon, in a cantilever fashion, a respective plurality of rods with platforms for supporting thereon said piles or batches, the platforms being retained against a rocking motion, as the chain is being advanced, the in which conveyor, in accordance with the present invention, retaining of each platform against rocking motion is effected via a pair of halfcouplings arranged at each point where the rod is mounted in a cantilever fashion on the respective horizontal spindle, one of the two half-couplings being fixed to the horizontal spindle, while the other halfcoupling is freely rotatable about the spindle and is fixed to the respective rod, the two half-couplings being resiliently held in engagement with each other. With the structure of the present device retaining the platforms against rocking motion, the structure of the entire conveyor is simplified, because the conveyor is freed of a complicated system of auxiliary chains and three-dimensional parallelogram linkages. As has been mentioned, in this case, retaining of. the platforms against rocking motion is ensured by permanent resilient engagement of the half-couplings, so that the platforms do not vary their position as the chain is being advanced.

To facilitate the erection of the conveyor and its maintenance, it is advisable that the half-coupling fixed to the horizontal spindle be integral with such spindle and that the resilient engagement of the two halfcouplings be effected by a spring supported by the spindle.

To increase friction between the engagement surfaces of the two half-couplings, it is advisable that such surfaces be grooved, fluted or otherwise serrated.

The conveyor including portionsat which the plane of the path of the conveyor varies, the position of the platforms at these portions would vary, too, i.e., the platforms would display a tendency to deviate substantially from their horizontal position, which might lead to piles or batches sliding ofl the platfonns. To prevent this, it is'essential to perform a correction of the position of the platforms in space as each platform is carried from one such portion to a successive portion. This is attained in that each horizontal spindle carries a follower and by mounting a stationary cam adjacent to each portion of the path of the chain, at which the plane of this path varies, the follower is adapted to engage such cam.

To provide a proper loading and unloading of the platforms, it is essential that at the respective areas the position of each platform be strictly horizontal. This is attained in that each platform is provided with a follower and by mounting a stationary cam adjacent to each portion of the path of the chain, corresponding to the areas of loading and unloading of the platforms, with the cam being adapted to be engaged by the lastmentioned follower.

For the present invention to be better understood, given hereinbelow is a description of an embodiment of the invention, with reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a conveyor for forwarding either piles or batches of newspapers, in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIII of FIG. 1, the view looking in the direction of the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the appended'drawings, the herein disclosed conveyor includes a three-dimensionally closed chain 1 (FIG. 1) carrying a plurality of uniformly spaced horizontal spindles 2 having mounted thereon in a cantilever fashion rods 3 provided with platforms 4 adapted to support either piles 5 or batches of newspapers. The platforms 4 are of a fork-like structure, to provide for loading piles of newspapers thereon and unloading the piles therefrom, respectively, from and onto comb-like panels of which the prongs are adapted to pass intermediate of the prongs of the forklike platforms. This manner of loading and unloading has been selected to provide for the fact that piles and batches of newspapers have insufficient rigidity, so that a different manner of loading and unloading, e.g. with the help of a pusher member, might result in a displacement of the newspapers in the pile or batch.

The chain 1 receives motion from a driven sprocket wheel 6 connected through a reducer 7 to a driving motor 8. The chain is of a sleeve-and-roller type, the rollers 9 (FIG. 2) of the chain moving along guides 10 which are channel-shaped in cross section and provided with a slit 11 for passage of the horizontal spindles 2 therethrough. The rollers 9 prevent displacement of the chain in the guides 10. Each spindle 2 has, in the area at which the respective rod 3 is attached thereto in a cantilever fashion, a half-coupling 12 fixed thereto, with'the half-coupling 12 being permanently held in resilient engagement with another half-coupling 13 freely rotatable about the spindle 2 and fixed to the rod 3 (FIG. 1 The provision of the half-couplings l2 and 13 prevent rocking of the platforms 4, as the latter are forwarded by the moving chain 1. The half-coupling 12 (FIG. 2) in the presently described embodiment is integral with the spindle 2, while a permanent resilient engagement of the two half-couplings is effected by the action of a compression spring 14 having one end secured to the spindle 2. To increase friction between engagement surfaces 15 and 16, respectively, of the halfcouplings l2 and 13, the two surfaces are either fluted, grooved or otherwise serrated.

The three-dimensional chain 1 (FIG. 1) includes portions where the plane of its path varies. Hence, as the platforms 4 supporting piles or batches are carried from one-such portion to a successive one, the position occupied in space by the platforms may vary accordingly, which might result in the piles or batches sliding off the platforms. To prevent this eventuality, it is essential that the position in space by the platforms 4 should be corrected. This is accomplished by each hori- To ensure strict horizontal position of the platforms 4 at the areas of their loading and unloading, each platform 4 is equipped with a follower 19 adapted to engage a stationary cam 20 mounted adjacent each said loading and unloading area.

The areas of loading and unloading of the platforms 4 are indicated in FIG. 1 by arrows A and B, respectively.

OPERATION OF THE CONVEYOR When the motor 8 is energized activated, the sprocket wheel 6 is rotated, whereby the chain 1 with the platforms 4 is guided by the rollers 9 along the guides 10 toward the area of loading of the platforms. At this area, the follower 19 of each successive platform 4 cooperates with the stationary cam 20, whereby the platform is indexed into a strictly horizontal position, In this position, the platform 4 has a pile 5 of newspapers loaded thereupon in any known manner suitable for the purpose. As the chain 1 travels onward with the platforms 4, now loaded with the piles 5, the followers 17 secured to the spindles 2 engage the stationary cams 18, as they approach the portions of the path of the chain where the direction of its travel varies. The engagement results in the half-couplings 12 and 13 being forcibly displaced relative to each other, so that the platforms 4 with the piles 5 thereon maintain their substantially horizontal position. Consequently, this position is maintained by the platforms 4 throughout the entire path travelled by the chain 1. Furthermore, this forced relative displacement of the half-couplings 12 and 13 prevents a rocking motion of the platforms, as'the chain 1 is advanced in operation.

Should the position of the platforms 4 as the latter are carried along any portion of the path, deviate however slightly from a strictly horizontal position, this would be compensated for by the followers 19 engaging the cam 20, as the respective platforms approach the unloading area. This engagement results in the respective platforms being returned into a strictly horizontal position, since the cooperation of the followers 19 and the cam 20 results in a corresponding forced displacement of the half-coupings l2 and 13.

What is claimed is:

l. A conveyor for forwarding piles of printed signatures such as newspapers, including a closed threedimensional chain adapted to be advanced; means for effecting advancing of said chain; a plurality of substantially horizontal spindles uniformly spaced along said chain and carried thereby; a respective plurality of rods mounted on said spindles in a cantilever fashion, platforms for supporting said piles of printed signatures mounted on said rods; a first half-coupling fixed to each said spindle at the area of mounting thereon of the respective one of said rods; a second half-coupling freely rotatable about each said spindle and fixed to the respective one of said rods, said half-couplings being maintained in permanent resilient engagement to retain said respective platforms together with said piles carried thereby against rocking motion, as said chain is being advanced; and means urging said half-couplings into permanent resilient engagement.

2. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said half-coupling fixed to said spindle is integral with said spindle, and said means urging said half-couplings into permanent resilient engagement including a spring havtion occupied in space by the respective ones of said platforms, as said chain travels from one said portion to another one.

5. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, including a follower mounted on each said platform, said chain having portions of the path thereof, corresponding the areas, respectively, of loading and unloading of said platforms, and a stationary cam mounted adjacent to each said portion to be engaged by said follower to index' the respective one of said platforms into a strictly horizontal position. 

1. A conveyor for forwarding piles of printed signatures such as newspapers, including a closed three-dimensional chain adapted to be advanced; means for effecting advancing of said chain; a plurality of substantially horizontal spindles uniformly spaced along said chain and carried thereby; a respective plurality of rods mounted on said spindles in a cantilever fashion, platforms for supporting said piles of printed signatures mounted on said rods; a first half-coupling fixed to each said spindle at the area of mounting thereon of the respective one of said rods; a second half-coupling freely rotatable about each said spindle and fixed to the respective one of said rods, said half-couplings being maintained in permanent resilient engagement to retain said respective platforms together with said piles carried thereby against rocking motion, as said chain is being advanced; and means urging said half-couplings into permanent resilient engagement.
 2. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said half-coupling fixed to said spindle is integral with said spindle, and said means urging said half-couplings into permanent resilient engagement including a spring having one end thereof secured to said substantially horizontal spindle.
 3. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said half-couplings have serrated engagement surfaces to increase friction between said respective engagement surfaces of said two half-couplings.
 4. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, including a follower mounted on each said substantially horizontall spindle, said chain having portions of the path thereof, where the plane of said path varies, and a stationary cam mounted adjacent to each said portion to be engaged by said follower to effect correction of the position occupied in space by the respective ones of said platforms, as said chain travels from one said portion to another one.
 5. The conveyor as claimed in claim 1, including a follower mounted on each said platform, said chain having portions of the path thereof, corresponding the areas, respectively, of loading and unloading of said platforms, and a stationary cam mounted adjacent to each said portion to be engaged by said follower to index the respective one of said platforms into a strictly horizontal position. 